Weaving the Road
by Falcon-Rider
Summary: Every decision changes the path life takes, spawning off new realities. In one world, a neglectful chunin took the mission to babysit four year old Naruto. In another Umino Iruka's jounin sensei got to the mission desk first. A series of one shots.
1. A Single Second

Title: A Single Second

Words: 4,094

Characters: Iruka, Naruto + OCs

Timeline: Four Year old Naruto

Pairings: Basically Gen

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><p>The road of life is an intricate maze, made up of interweaving paths of millions upon millions of individuals. To be entirely accurate, the road map created looks much more like a misshapen cloth being woven off into eternity. There are holes points where it contracts and expands, threads that jump from one point to another, twisting the entire framework until it nearly resembles a rope. Threads start and stop, their ends barely (usually) poking out and on extremely rare occasions jutting quickly back in.<p>

Outside of the main framework are thicker threads that weave together and then shoot into the main bundle before darting out. Some of these, nine in particular, join with the main grouping more often than others, sometimes appearing bound to one smaller thread in particular. These nine stand for the biju, the nine 'demons' made of pure chakra who have, in the most recent portion of the timeline, found themselves bound to humans by other humans. Kurama, the Kyuubi, is one such biju.

Contrary to popular belief, fate isn't set in stone. Every action that an individual takes part in—every choice—adjusts the path of the weave and moves every other thread in consequence.

Sometimes these adjustments are so small that nothing, to the naked eye appears all that different, and yet even a small choice, such as orange juice versus milk, still spawns off a new, identical weave into a new reality. Sometimes, however, decisions are made that end one bundle completely or take out large swaths of fabric.

Most of these bundles are isolated from each other, close but not touching as if there is an infinite yet finite amount of space between them. A few, a very few, however, have threads that cross from one to another; sometimes blending with an identical thread and sometimes becoming a duplicate or even joining the bundle earlier than it originally appeared. These usually cause massive chain reactions of new bundles popping up within the affected bundle as they usually are initially created by one thread creating a new bundle whose framework isn't as advanced as the original.

From a distance it is difficult to give a name to which realities are better and which are worse—but really, deciding that is subjective to begin with. None are 'pretty' in this form, as all are misshapen. But there are few who could truly be called 'ugly' either. They just are.

While there are infinite incarnations of reality, the closer they appear in 'space' the closer the story the threads make is in detail.

When taking into consideration one thread common to many in one particular portion of infinite space, Kurama, it is easy to see how vastly different the road of life can be traveled. Focusing further on a few decades worth of time this is even easier to see.

In some worlds Kurama is free, roaming the surface of the world wreaking havoc on humanity with his siblings. In some he still is intricately bound with his siblings in the form of the Jyubi. In many he is caged within a human. The human he is caged within changes often as well. In a few the one who holds him is Senjuu Tsunade, her brother Nawaki, or one of their children; this happens most often when Uzumaki Kushina isn't born. In many Uzumaki Kushina holds Kurama, her chakra chains strong and binding.

If Kushina becomes his jinchuriki there are, usually, three main paths the world takes—all determined on the timing of her first pregnancy. Either she doesn't give birth to a child (usually as the wife of Namikaze Minato) and lives out her days either taking Kurama with her until he can reform or finding another to seal him into, or Uchiha Madara attacks in an attempt to control the biju on the night she gives birth. If Madara attacks that night than either she'll die, taking Kurama with her and the world often becomes temporarily 'safe' until Kurama reforms and the man hunts him down, or the Kyuubi is sealed within her son.

More often than not, because Minato rarely chooses to save his wife over their son, Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto becomes the next jinchuriki.

Surprisingly, this situation exists in nearly all of the timelines in which Kushina is born, and often something similar occurs when someone else holds the biju. When Kurama is free for Madara to take things are worse.

Uchiha Madara rarely chooses a different path.

But this story isn't about that small segment of history; it's about one moment in time where a chunin was one second later to get a mission and a genin team was one second faster.

The mission in question? Babysitting a four year old Uzumaki Naruto.

The child in question had recently been moved from where he'd been kept secluded and watched over by two caretakers and the remnants of his father's personal ANBU squad—most of which were killed the night of the kyuubi attack—to a small apartment. The boy would still have an ANBU member on watch along with a caretaker, but the Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, felt that it would be best to begin bringing the boy back into the village's eye.

While keeping him secluded in infancy had been best, especially with the reaction of the village upon finding out the child's fate as a jinchuriki, it couldn't be done so indefinitely—especially not using the child's parents' home. Keeping Minato's enemies unaware of the existence of an heir was important. He had barely been able to justify housing the child within the home as safety concerns when he was much younger and as something the fourth would have wanted, and would have done for any orphan that he'd fated to live that way had he himself been alive.

Most of the village seemed to buy into Naruto's existence as a no-name orphan who had been given the Uzumaki name simply in remembrance of Konoha's fallen allies. Of course most hadn't seen him since he was a tow headed, surprisingly quiet, newborn if ever. Those that didn't or had been among the very small number who had known Kushina was pregnant understood the reasons behind the lies. Others chose to attempt to forget the connection, letting their hatred of the biju override their logic.

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><p>Jounin Ishii Hisoka wasn't that happy with their assignment as he glanced over the scroll the chunin in charge of delegating missions that day had given them, even if it was classified as a low C rank in pay rather than the usual D a babysitting job would entail. There was a note included with the scroll for the debrief he was to give his team.<p>

His was one of the few genin teams able to take this job, from what he could tell. The newer genin teams and the rest of the younger generation had been sheltered as much possible from the reality of the defeat of the kyuubi. While a few likely knew the truth, most didn't and the law the Sandaime had set—along with the few executions he'd carried out when it had initially been broken—prevented the rest from knowing. Since then no one had broken the law, or at least been caught doing so.

While he wasn't all that enthuses about the mission—one that would last an entire week during the time the boy's usual caretaker took care of her own home and other obligations as apparently she was only paid to be there during 'non-school hours' not that the boy went to the academy or the civilian school yet—he would perform it to the letter and make sure his team would as well.

That would be the difficult part.

He didn't have anything against the boy that held the Kyuubi; in fact he pitied him and was thankful the boy existed. He had just been hoping for a trip out of the village. Two of his three students, however, had lost family to the Kyuubi, one of which was entirely orphaned.

Umino Iruka would likely have the most difficulties with this mission. The other student, Wada Sumiko had lost an older brother. His third student, Imai Minoru hadn't lost any family due to the simple luck that they hadn't been in the village the week of the attack due to his oldest sister having given given birth. The family had gone to see the new parents where they lived in the capitol of Hi no Kuni. That didn't, however, mean Minoru felt the loss from the attack any less.

"What's our mission?" Sumiko asked curiously, her light brown eyes smiling along with her lips. The fifteen year old kunoichi was dressed in her usual fair, a tight long sleeved mesh shirt with a black vest over top. She wore black wraps over her forearms and lower legs that hid simple armor from view. A short black skort of sorts reached to just above her knees, slit on both sides to allow for a weapons pouch, along with the one affixed to her belt.

She didn't have any other visible weapons asides from two scrolls clipped to her belt and several long senbon that held her hair up into a messy black bun. Her family wasn't from any of the ninja clans—although at least one member of her family per generation since Konoha's founding had chosen to be. Her skills lay in medicine and ranged weapons for the most part, utilizing her excellent chakra control to increase speed and aim.

"It doesn't start for another hour, so let's head to the training ground so I can explain," Hisoka told them, holding back a sigh.

The trio nodded and, following his example, disappeared. They could have walked, yes, but in the two and a half years that the three had been on Ishii's team they knew it was better to walk than run. Every moment they were on duty was considered training.

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><p>The jounin arrived first, via shunshin, at their usual meeting spot. He was dressed in the same manner as most jounin sensei, the only difference being few more scrolls and a chokuto on his back. While he wasn't a master in kenjutsu, he was highly proficient at it and could utilize suiton or katon chakra with it. His dark brown hair and eyes allowed him to blend in during most situations.<p>

Minoru was the first student to arrive, and as a taijutsu expert focusing on speed and silence this was typical. The boy smiled at his instructor, gold-hazel eyes crinkling into slits as he ran his hand through his own brown locks, which were in desperate need of a trim. His clothes, much like the other boy on the team were simple and nearly standard ninja-wear. A pair of green pants ended in white bandages that disappeared into standard blue sandals. A long sleeved mesh shirt was covered by a dark brown short sleeved shirt with a familiar red swirl in remembrance of Uzushiogakure on the back.

Iruka was the next to arrive with Sumiko just seconds behind. His skin was a darker shade than his teammates, eyes and hair a common brown with his hair pulled him in a short pony tail. His pants, unlike Minoru's, were blue and he wore a white shirt with his clan symbol on the back. A scar crossed his nose and cheeks and he was smiling at the female member of the team as she stopped next to him.

Hisoka interrupted Iruka's boast before it could even begin, "Our mission, this week, is a C rank."

"Yes!" Iruka exclaimed and Minoru's smile widened.

"But this isn't a normal C rank," Hisoka let his eyes rest on each of his students. "We won't be leaving the village."

"What?" Minoru asked. It was a perfectly reasonable question. As a team they had done fifteen C ranks in just the last year and half that during their first year. Hisoka couldn't remember off the top of his head how many D ranks they'd been on (but then even as academy students their generation had been doing the easiest D ranks in order to help rebuild the village).

Sumiko frowned, lips pursing together. "Then why is it rated C?"

"Several reasons," Hisoka motioned for them all to sit down and they did, kneeling or crossing their legs in the grass. He set the mission scroll in front of them and sighed. Activating the privacy seal that had been included within the scroll, he continued, "all three of you are aware of the truth behind the defeat of the Kyuubi?"

"Yes." Iruka responded shortly, voice tight and fists clenching in the grass. The other two nodded.

"Our duty from ten hundred till eighteen hundred for the next week is to babysit four year old Uzumaki Naruto. Due to his situation and the length of the mission this has been classified as a C rank instead of a prolonged D rank. We'll spend most of the time in the two bedroom apartment he shares with his nightly caretaker."

"Babysitting?" Minoru scowled.

"But sensei—"

"Sumiko," Hisoka interrupted Iruka as he pulled one of his scrolls from his belt, "In simple terms, how does sealing work—in regards to a scroll?"

The girl blinked, eyes following his movements as her sensei placed the scroll on the ground in front of his knees and opened it. Hisoka had gone over basic sealing with them six months ago, teaching them how to, at the very least, make simple explosives and utilize to those seals and scrolls available at equipment stores to their best ability. Of the three only Sumiko had done any in-depth studying of the subject, choosing to seal most of her equipment in specially made scrolls.

Minoru groaned as she prattled off the basics of where items went and how they could retrieve items.

Hisoka just smiled at her and nodded as she finished. "That, in many ways, is the basics of many seals, although there are other uses. Most seals are utilized to store or alter either temporarily or permanently something. In the case of exploding tags at the basic level they are utilized to store the catalyst that is ignited by chakra. Seals used for physical training," he nodded towards Minoru who wore arm and ankle bands of the type, "can store chakra that is changed into weight or used to alter gravity."

"The Yondaime used a very complex seal to permanently store the Kyuubi within an infant, as you already know." Hisoka's eyes narrowed and he affixed his gaze to each of his students, one by one. "This child, contrary to much of the popular opinion within the civilian population and some shinobi is not the Kyuubi. He is this scroll." Hisoka tapped the scroll with one hand and pulled a kunai from his equipment pouch with the other. "The Kyuubi is but a kunai, a weapon, sealed within the boy." Setting the kunai onto the seal matrix he quickly sealed it away. "Yondaime-sama was the best seal master Konoha has seen since Uzushiogakure was destroyed. We must trust that he knew what he was doing and that a seal that took his life is one strong enough to be trusted."

Rolling up the scroll, he put it away and rose to a crouch. "Now, Uzumaki is not aware of his status—a member of the Yamanaka clan confirmed this recently." Hisoka didn't need to tell them how much of a risk that must have been. "We are _not_ to enlighten him. I don't expect all of you to be happy about this mission, but I expect you to follow it to the letter and to treat the boy as a child, for that is what he is. Call him by his name or, should the situation arrive, an _appropriate_ nickname. I think you're all old enough that I have to state the difference between appropriate and inappropriate."

His eyes softened slightly as he took in Iruka's bowed head. The teen was still upset and Hisoka doubted that the truth spoken as words had much effect on his opinion. Nothing short of meeting the boy would likely do that. "If we have to we'll come up with a rotation for who does things like clean up or cook and who entertains him . . . but he won't be left alone at all while we're there."

Glancing at his watch, he sighed, "We should head over now. We don't want to be late."

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><p>The apartment where Uzumaki Naruto lived with his caretaker, an elderly, retired kunoichi by the name of Kouki Mayu, was a simple two bedroom with a living roomkitchen, balcony, and a bathroom. The building itself was in good repair and rather quiet, although that could be due to the time of day.

Hisoka knocked on the door, his team hovering behind him, five minutes before ten hundred hours. "Team Ishii reporting for duty," he held out the scroll when the door opened, revealing a gray haired woman, face lined with age.

She eyed the scroll for a moment and paused tilting her head as if waiting for something. A moment later she nodded and smiled tiredly at them, motioning for them to come in. "Thank you for being on time, that's a step up from the last ninja." She paused and looked back towards the main room. "Naruto-chan, why don't you come out and meet the nice _ninja _who will be playing with you this week?"

As she closed the door behind them, a mop of blonde hair accompanied by a pair of bright blue eyes peaked around the corner that led into the hallway. "Ninja?" a young voice asked, curiously. "Like Raion-san and Risu-san?"

Mayu chuckled softly, "Yes, Naruto-chan . . ." she quirked a mischievous smile at the apprehensive genin. "Only I think these ninja may answer your questions."

An excited exclamation followed by a brightly colored blur burst around the corner. The boy was small, but well kept—aside from his very messy bright blonde hair—and every ounce a happy, bubbly child. In fact, if it weren't for the tell-tale whisker markings on each cheek he looked like any other little kid. He wore orange coveralls with a pale blue shirt and bright white socks.

Hisoka blinked as he watched the boy stop and stare up at his team. Iruka had taken a step back, but Minoru and Sumiko stood their ground and stared down at the child. Either Naruto didn't notice their reaction to him or it was so normal that he was ignoring it.

Before he could spout off his fifth—at least—question—not allowing for time for them to actually be answered—Mayu settled her hand on top of the unruly blonde hair and ruffled it. "I'll be back for dinner, Naruto-chan, you be good for the ninja . . . remember Risu-san is around somewhere if something bad happens." She wasn't looking at the boy as she spoke, but eyeing the team before her, gaze serious even as her voice was light hearted.

Hisoka understood what she meant. While they were playing and taking care of the boy, the first line of defense from would be attackers—and possibly _them_—was an ANBU operative who the boy knew on some slightly better than professional level. He knew that his team had realized it as well.

"We'll make sure he's safe and has a lot of fun," Hisoka reassured her. She nodded and grabbed her coat and bag before slipping on her shoes and heading out the door to go about her business and visit her own family. There was an awkward silence for a few moments after the door shut. Naruto had tensed a little, his bottom lip caught between his tiny teeth.

Smiling, he leaned down a bit towards the boy, eyes taking in his features. Bright blue eyes blinked at his scrutiny. "Well, Naruto-chan, my name is Ishii Hisoka and this is my team Iruka-kun, Sumiko-chan, and Minoru-kun . . . how about you show us around and then they can answer some of your questions?"

Blue eyes almost disappeared as Naruto released his lip in favor of giving them a blinding smile. "Sure!" he reached out and snagged Sumiko and Minoru's hands and dragged them—as much as a four year old can drag anyone—into the room chattering away.

Hisoka's eyes settled on the remaining member of his team who had yet to move from his spot, back against the door. Sometimes the hardest part about the truth was facing it.

* * *

><p>The day went smoothly. Mayu had left snacks and a partially prepared lunch—enough for all four of them—which Sumiko and Iruka had taken turns dealing with. Minoru had spent much of the day, along with Sumiko, playing with Naruto. Drawing and playing silly 'ninja' games along with having to answer all manner of questions about ninja life seemed to take up most of their time.<p>

Minoru was generally pretty patient, but Naruto's attention span seemed to be lacking and he sometimes asked question three or four times before the answer would 'sink in'. Eventually he'd needed a break and Sumiko had taken over the boy, convincing him to illustrate a story as they came up with it.

For his part, the jounin kept an eye on everyone, answered Naruto's questions whenever the boy turned his attention towards the oldest ninja—and thus the 'coolest'—and worked his way through a few different books. As he was reading a passage on possible ways to utilize suiton and katon manipulation together, his main and secondary elements, Iruka sat down next to him.

Leaning his book to the side, Hisoka glanced over to where Naruto was taking a short nap—he never seemed to stay down for longer than ten minutes—while Sumiko tidied up the various art supplies around them.

"He looks so . . . innocent." Iruka mumbled finally.

"That's because he is," Hisoka replied, voice soft. "He's just an unlucky little boy . . . an orphan who lost his family the day he was born and will face prejudice for something someone else did for the rest of his life."

"But—"

"Iruka," Hisoka interrupted the teen, nodding towards where Naruto was yawning widely, already perking up with energy. It was clear why Mayu needed this time as a break from the young boy. "I think it's your turn to play with Naruto-chan."

Iruka shot him a wide eyed look, but nodded stiffly after a moment and stood. He stopped a few feet from the child as Sumiko disappeared towards the bathroom to wash her hands.

"Uh, hey, Na-Naruto . . ."

"Iruka-san!" Naruto chirped excitedly, smile slightly smaller than usual. Iruka had been avoiding him most of the day, after all. He bit his lip, eyes moving around before landing on a bookshelf. Eyes lighting up he reached out and snagged Iruka's hand and dragged him towards it. "Read story to me, please?" he asked, not even waiting for an answer as he dropped to his knees to investigate the brightly colored bindings. He selected a bright orange cover rather quickly and held it up to the teenager expectantly.

Iruka blinked down at him and smiled hesitantly before taking the book from him. "Uh, sure . . . where—" he cut himself off as Naruto once again snagged his hand to lead him to a very comfortable chair.

Hisoka watched from behind his book with hidden amusement as Naruto situated Iruka into the chair and climbed up into his lap. The first few minutes were a bit awkward, but as Naruto began to 'help' Iruka read—incorrectly telling the tale—a bit of banter began to form between the two as when it came to facts Iruka couldn't let the boy tell the story _wrong._

Naruto didn't seem to mind the argument and somehow it devolved into Iruka attempting to help teach the four year old what each of the symbols meant.

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><p>Sometimes something as simple as a few seconds time difference can change the course of reality. In many worlds Naruto was left in the care of a chunin who did little more than point the boy towards toys, feed him, and clean up after him while ignoring his questions and quietly glaring at him. But, in worlds like this one, the threads wove differently and Naruto made a friend for life.<p>

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><p>Fin<p>

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><p>Authors Note (They will never again be this long): Okay, here's the thing, this isn't going to be a long drawn out epic fic . . . not in the usual sense because history tells me I'm not always good at those. What I am good at, however, are Universes. Creating 'one shots' that conclude but leave the story open to more possibilities – ie a series of one shots or a series of longer fics that tie in together. What I plan to create here is a universe. This means that I won't be delving into every event canon dictates (but then who really wants to read yet another wave arc fic that dies before it gets to the Chunin exam?).<p>

Will I be dealing with canon events? Possibly . . . might this be a shorter fic or series of one shots? Maybe. My muse is finicky . . . but each 'part' will be a complete story within the universe that just ties in with the others. Most if not all will focus on Naruto.

I will be using Japanese terms for things, ie abilities/etc. I don't watch the dub (can't stand English dubs mostly), so I don't know what the terms they use are anyway. I keep up with the subbed anime (I have skipped filler episodes), but I am not caught up in the manga currently, though I have been spoiled. I know the basics, but considering this will be an alternate timeline I don't really need to get every detail of canon perfect anyway.

Do feel free to correct me on terminology/spelling as I have only recently returned to the Naruto fandom after six or so years, but in regards to some canon events I may ignore you. I am utilizing a wiki source for basic information regarding dates (ie Umino Iruka's graduation/chunin promotion).

This will not be a fic where Naruto is physically abused by the citizens of Konoha. I see no need to go down that path and only a tiny minority of shinobi in this verse would dare to even think about allowing it. Emotionally, at least in regards to the village as whole, things will be much the same as in canon. There is no need to throw stones in order to hurt, after all.

I do hope you enjoy this story . . . oh and the OC's that show up in this part (Naruto's four . . . it couldn't be helped without being incredibly repetitive with canon characters which I like to avoid) will likely only be in this section of the fic as 'main' characters. Remember, a this is a !verse, that means characters will appear and disappear from Naruto's life . . . just like people do in real life.

Oh, this isn't beta-ed.

Thanks for reading!


	2. Fading Tags

Title: Fading Tags

Words: 2,262

Characters: Iruka, Naruto, OC's

Timeline: Naruto age 6 (Civilian school), Chunin Iruka

Pairings: Gen

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><p>Two years after Iruka met Naruto for the first time his team passed the Chunin exam. In reality they had probably been ready for years to take it, but sending a lot of teams to exams held by the other nations wasn't a good option. They had waited, instead, for the second exam held in Konoha during their tenure as genin. It wasn't as if they hadn't already been taking the occasional B rank along with their C's anyway. If it had been wartime they would have received field promotions some time ago.<p>

But, even with the lack of ninja due to the Kyuubi attack, it wasn't wartime and his jounin sensei hadn't felt the need to rush them through the process of growing up. While it was true that many of the academy students at the time of the attack had been graduated early to enable more experienced ninja to take the higher ranked missions that many of those killed would normally have taken, most were not prodigies and there was no need to lose the younger generation before their time.

Only a select few of those that graduated with or after Iruka had already graduated to chunin. The genin ranks were huge compared to the jounin and even chunin—an oddity as historically most people made chunin and stuck with the rank for years. Those that didn't often went into ANBU. The average age for someone to attempt the jounin trials was mid-twenties. In the first few years after the attack a lack of jounin and ANBU had caused the remaining chunin into taking the trials earlier. Training had been upped—especially when it came to weapons and elemental jutsu. Genin were taking over administrative and guard duties (those that didn't require ANBU), and even assisting at the academy to fill the void.

Iruka was out of the village on a mission more often than not. That didn't stop him, however, from meeting up with Naruto several times a week or so, depending on his schedule. The now six year old, who had been attending the civilian school for year and half, often ran around Konoha after his classes—seemingly alone, but everyone but the very youngest generation were aware of the ANBU that followed him. Even if very few could locate the guard.

Naruto always seemed to be able to find him and his teammates and he always knew which ANBU was around as well. It had taken Iruka about six months to realize that the kid was a natural sensor (not that anyone who knew him was going to broadcast that information—born sensors were rare) and that was only after he had dragged Iruka two blocks and into a rather annoyed shopkeepers store to Sumiko.

In hindsight it might have been better if Iruka hadn't told the kid he needed to find his teammate. Although, he was pretty sure Naruto's teachers and future academy instructors would thank him one day.

Naruto wrinkled his nose and bit his bottom lip as he traced the thick lines again and again. He was getting better at this. It showed in his regular handwriting as well. He sat back after a moment and glanced up at Iruka.

"Looking pretty good . . . be care on this stroke though," Iruka tapped one of the lines that thickened and hooked towards the bottom. "Remember any little mistake could cause a seal to blow up in your face."

It was Sumiko's fault, really, the kids interest in fuinjutsu. She was going to have to teach the kid about them if Naruto's interest waned before them. Iruka didn't have enough in-depth knowledge on the subject and he didn't want to confuse Naruto. Calligraphy, on the other hand, was something he didn't mind supervising. While Naruto was writing, he spent the time studying theory for the skills chunin were required to train in.

Each rank had their own requirements—both in order to achieve the rank and in order to move up in rank within it. Chunin who chose to remain at that rank for life didn't sit idle in their skills. In fact many of the older chunin's skills rivaled that of jounin. Being jounin wasn't just about skill level. It was also about command ability and ambition. While jounin-sensei lead three man teams, chunin taught at the academy and handled the training of genin that weren't mature enough within their ninja skillset and mindset to be settled immediately onto three man teams upon graduating from the academy. Two thirds of graduates, usually, were trained not by jounin, but by lifetime chunin.

Some considered this to mean those graduated by jounin's were superior, when in reality there was little difference other than speed and order of skills learned, and publicity. After all, those teams, like the Chunin exams, weren't just designed with learning in mind, but also in order to 'show off' to the other nations. Those who studied under chunin's were generally also taken as apprentices more often in specific fields after the first two years in specific weapons, ninjutsu, taijutsu, genjutsu, T&I, codebreaking, or ijutsu for a few examples.

Iruka wasn't interested in becoming a jounin, at least not for now. Neither of his parents had been, both preferring their duties and rank among the chunin. His mother, he knew, had spent three years in the ANBU before his birth.

"Iruka-niisan," Naruto frowned, eyes glued to his paper. "Do you think Maya-obaasan will get better soon?"

Iruka sighed inwardly. He really didn't know and wasn't sure how to explain to the child that Mayu was old and sometimes illness was relentless. Naruto's caregiver's health had declined so suddenly that it had sparked an investigation. She hadn't been poisoned, though; rather she had developed a very rapid and relentless cancer that the medical ninjas had been unable to do much for. It had spread too far by the time symptoms had forced the stubborn retired kunoichi to the hospital for diagnosis.

Looking at those bright blue eyes, filled with worry for the woman who had cared for him most of his life, Iruka tried to steel himself. Standing, he moved around the small table to kneel next to the boy's chair. Naruto turned to look at him.

"Naruto," Iruka began, "Mayu-san is very, very ill. Sometimes it takes a really, really long time for people to get better . . . and sometimes they don't."

Naruto scrunched up his nose and squinted.

"Mayu-san is really old and her body is tired."

"She should sleep more!" Iruka couldn't help the small quirk of a grin at the edge of his lips for a second.

"Her body doesn't need sleep . . . not really. It's old and eventually a person's body reaches its . . . limit." Iruka glanced at the calligraphy set in front of them. "Like the explosive tags Sumiko-chan showed you."

"It blows up?" Naruto had a funny look on his face and Iruka wished that the situation warranted a chuckle.

He sighed. "No . . . remember how she talked about leaving tags in the sunlight?"

The little boy squinted again. "Like when she yelled at shopkeeper-baka?"

Sumiko had yelled at the shopkeeper—a civilian who had decided to sell simple seal tags along with his calligraphy supplies—for improperly storing the tags facing a window with direct sunlight. But she'd been harsher than usual due to the glare he'd been sending Naruto's way.

"Eh, yeah." Iruka nodded. "Remember how she explained that leaving a tag out in the sunlight would cause it to fade?"

Naruto nodded.

"What happens when an explosive tag fades?"

"The boom is small," Naruto made an upset face. Of course a six year old boy wouldn't be happy about diminished explosive power. "Or it doesn't explode."

"Right . . ." Iruka ruffled his hair and then rested his hand on the kids shoulder. "Well, humans work kind of like that . . . only without the explosion." Usually. There was that annoying clan in Iwa. "We're like tags that sit outside in the sun, slowly fading. One day we fade too much and we . . . die."

"Can't you fix them? Sumiko said you can sometimes fix tags!" Naruto was chewing on his bottom lip. Sumiko had shown him what to do with expired tags. They were disposed of in a special manner to make sure chakra remnants wouldn't have reactions. In some cases they could be revitalized though.

"Sometimes," Iruka smiled sadly. "When a person is young or the injury or illness isn't too bad . . . but Mayu is old and she's really, really sick." Seeing that continuing the metaphor might be a good idea to explain, he continued, "She was really faded before the illness, Naruto."

Naruto's eyes were wide and wet with tears, a few already sliding over scarred cheeks. "Where will Mayu-baasan go?"

"She'll get to see her family and friends that have already died again in the afterlife." Iruka didn't want to go in too much depth about the subject. "and one day, far, far, far into the future when you're old and wrinkled you'll see her again, too."

Naruto made a face at the old comment around his tears. His mouth opened for second before snapping shut and he turned back to look at the desk.

"Naruto?"

"Iruka-niisan? Could you help me write a note?" Iruka blinked at him. "I want to show Mayu-obaa what I've learned." Naruto turned to look at him, determination in his eyes. "She was looking forward to seeing my call—calligraphy."

She had been, in fact she'd been really surprised the child was able to sit still long enough to practice it. Everyone hd been. Naruto was nothing if not determined to learn calligraphy in order to be able to make explosive tags.

Iruka smiled and nodded, ignoring the slight wetness clinging to the edges of his eyes and lashes, blurring his vision slightly. "Of course." He pulled the chair he'd been sitting in earlier around the table.

The worked for a while, silent while Naruto traced out the correct symbols for each of the words Naruto wanted to say.

"Do you think Mayu-obaasan will meet my parents?" Naruto asked suddenly, a long while later.

Iruka blinked. Naruto was an orphan and while Iruka wasn't sure who his parents were (although most of his generation who dared to think about it could guess), he'd been told they were both killed during the Kyuubi attack. After a few moments he nodded. "I bet she will . . . she'll want to tell them what a good kid you're growing up to be."

Naruto smiled a bit and then glanced across the room. "Tsuru-san too?"

Iruka blinked at the new ANBU name. He knew the animal code names of most of Naruto's usual guards and few that subbed in lot. Risu and Raion were the most common, but Uma, Kawauso, and recently Inu were around from time to time. Naruto referred to them occasionally in his childlike way. On a few occasions they made themselves visible to him and whoever was guarding him.

"Mayu-san will have lots of good stories for him and your parents," the soft, deep voice of Raion answered. Iruka caught sight of him for a few moments before he disappeared again.

It never ceased to startle Iruka when one of the ANBU actually popped out of nowhere. He knew that Naruto always knew where they were—at least when they were nearby—even if he usually ignored their presence. The boy had been learning about the ANBUs duties since he was born. He might not have a lot of academic knowledge, but he had quite a bit of practical knowledge from his interactions with his caretakers and guards.

Naruto didn't seem to notice, though, how different his home life was from the kids he did socialize with, from what Iruka had seen the few times he'd taken the boy to the park. He did know that he was an orphan whereas the others had parents; but he was very accepting of the status quo.

Naruto obviously remembered the people in his life and knew that things changed over time—the ANBU and his babysitters came and went, some showing up more often than not. None of the adults in his life were there all the time like a parent would have been, even his caretaker had days off before her illness. Iruka himself wasn't around a whole lot.

For a moment as Naruto focused intently on a new word, Iruka let his mind ponder that. He wondered if that was why Naruto's sensor abilities had developed so strongly at such a young age. Without a true parental figure in his life, Naruto was likely constantly looking for the chakra signatures of those he'd become attached to. Perhaps that was also why Naruto sought him and his team out so often around town. The ANBU had, as Iruka knew from Naruto's babbling, impressed upon him the need for their masked lives to be separate from their unmasked. Iruka was one of a handful of people Naruto could safely seek out.

"Is it good?" Naruto peaked up at Iruka, a bit nervous.

Iruka blinked and eyed the paper. He pretended to take long time scrutinizing every detail before ruffling his chosen brother's hair. "Yep! You're getting really good at this! What else do you want to tell Mayu-san?"

Naruto beamed up at him, whiskered cheeks crinkling cutely around his gap-toothed smile.

* * *

><p>Fin<p>

* * *

><p>Notes: Well, that was a bit awkward for me to write . . . honestly I hope Iruka and Naruto's discussion is somewhat realistic.<p>

Naruto wasn't going to have a caretaker forever . . . I didn't intend to go in depth on how I see the ranks working, but apparently my brain wanted to flesh that out. This also wasn't terribly long . . . I'll probably have another part up in the next 48 hours. I'm visiting family while taking an exam for an apprenticeship program so no promises however.

Risu – squirrel

Raion – Lion

Tsuru – Crane

Uma – Horse

Kawauso – Otter

Inu – dog

In this !verse these are most of his guards. Naruto has an abstract knowledge of what death is from being around Shinobi and being an orphan. His parents are dead, he knows this as his guards and caretaker knew them and wanted him to know they didn't abandon him to his fate (even if he doesn't know he has the Kyuubi sealed inside him yet). He doesn't know who they are, yet.

Tsuru, who was one of his guard as an infant/toddler, died on a mission (the ANBU are rather interactive with him due to his age and chakra sensor abilities so his absence was explained kinda to the boy). Risu and Raion will be his main guards until he joins the academy. Until he graduates assume, whether I mention it or not, that he has an ANBU tail. At this point he's down to one or two guards at a time unless security is amped in the village (ie a foreign delegation in town), depending on time of day and who is with him. The only guard from canon at this point is Inu—Kakashi who due to his knowledge subs as a guard when he doesn't have other missions. He doesn't interact with Naruto outside of ANBU for the same reason Jiraiya didn't take Naruto in.

The ANBU are there to protect him, but not to interfere on the playground/school/social interactions unless there is great physical threat. They do report everything to the Hokage. While shopkeepers my not be 'happy' to have him around overcharging would be reported and selling spoiled/damaged food to him wouldn't make sense as no self-respecting restaurant owner would keep such around on the off chance Naruto would stop by. Plus that does fall under physical threat as spoiled food = illness that could possibly kill a normal person in some cases.

Thanks for reading my slightly rambly tale and notes!


	3. Shodou and Cooties

Title: Shodou and Cooties

Words: 1,230

Characters: Naruto, Sakura, OC's

Timeline: Naruto age 7 (civilian school)

Pairings: Gen

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><p>If there was one thing Naruto liked least about his schedule, it was school. The classes were boring (except for physical education, art, and music) and the teachers didn't really like him. He guessed it must have something to do with his inability to sit still, but he couldn't help himself. Mayu-obaasan had told him once he had so much chakra within him that he was like ten whole children on a sugar rush (he was rarely allowed sweets with lots of sugar so he wasn't entirely sure if she'd been telling the truth).<p>

Most of the teachers ignored him, often leaving him till last by going alphabetically. That meant he rarely ever got a chance to do things like try out certain instruments or read any of his papers out loud. He didn't so much mind that he didn't have to read aloud . . . a lot of the other kids were jealous he got to avoid it as they hate, hate, _hated_ it themselves.

Lectures were the worst, even if the teachers did try to make things interesting and often included activities that involved filling out work sheets or making things during them. Naruto couldn't help focusing on the task in front of him, often having to sneak a peek at one of his neighbors—a quiet pink haired girl named Sakura who he liked due to her brightness and a dim brunette boy named Manabu whose parents owned a clothing shop—just to make sure he filled everything out correctly.

It was easier to just learn the subjects they went over from the books with Iruka-niisan or someone else in the evening. Sometimes he even practiced his calligraphy by copying the information down. It wasn't as if the books had a lot of hard words or anything; they weren't nearly as hard to understand as the books he saw Iruka-niisan and Sumiko-chan read.

They had physical education once and recess twice, but even running laps and doing exercises for an hour wasn't enough activity for him (physical education for pre-academy age children was strictly regimented in the civilian schools till the age of twelve to provide a good bade for any children that decided to apply for the academy). He wasn't the only one who had "too much energy for their own good" as his math teacher had yelled at them once. There were a few other bright students who also got scolded on occasion for their inability to sit still . . . they didn't have near the issues Naruto did though.

The other reason he didn't like school was because most of the children didn't like him. Naruto didn't understand how or why he'd ended up being labeled a troublemaker within the first few days of school . . . but the title had stuck. Really, though, the only trouble he could remember causing was knocking over a cart of books the second day in his rush to go outside to play. He helped pick them up immediately and missed most of the playtime!

At least his grades weren't too bad, most of the time. The teacher that taught them grammar and how to spell new words actually complimented him once on his writing. At least he didn't get knocked off his homework for the teacher not being able to read it.

Manabu was one of the few kids in the class who talked to him on a regular basis. He most often got paired up with him for in class projects . . . although once in a while he ended up with Sakura instead. She was really quiet and shy though.

Today he was working with Sakura on work sheet where they had to rewrite an incorrectly written sentence. She didn't seem to be too enthusiastic about working with him, but she didn't complain. At least not until she was done writing the answer to the first one and he took the sheet in order to sign his own name and fill out the next one.

"What are you doing?" She squeaked out. Her voice was sharp, but quiet. It was the loudest he'd heard her speak, ever. "You can just tell me how you spell your name!"

Naruto blinked up at her, pausing in the middle of his first name. He frowned. "Why?"

"Because boys have bad hand writing!"

"We do?" Naruto blinked down at the paper.

"Yes!" She pursed her lips at him and then followed his gaze down to his name.

He'd been working on calligraphy for nearly a year now and he had most everything down pretty solid when it came to the larger sizes he'd trained in with the calligraphy equipment. Working with a pencil was slightly different, including writing so small, but not so much that it had any major effect on his writing. The symbols that made up his name were clear, nearly perfect, even, and in a straight line whereas hers, although neat, looked messy compared to his.

Sakura blinked, green-blue hazel eyes going wide as she snatched the paper for him. Narrowing her gaze she stared at him. Everyone always said girl's handwriting was ten times better than boy's! "Did you practice writing your name a lot?"

"A little," Naruto smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his head. "Iruka-niisan made me use it for one of my exercises a few months ago."

"Exercises?" She frowned at him.

"Yep!"

"What for?"

"Calligraphy," Naruto said the word slowly and clearly. He'd had some trouble saying it for a long time and wanted to make sure she understood him.

"Calligraphy?" Her frown deepened. She knew that girls took calligraphy classes in the special courses they took for the pre-academy kunoichi hopefuls. It filled the void in their traditional skillset that girls going to the academy would miss if they ended up becoming genin—unless they were trained specifically for espionage and seduction—instead of taking the post-primary civilian school classes. Sakura had no idea why a _boy_ would be learning calligraphy. "Why are you studying calligraphy?"

Naruto's smile brightened, eyes practically beaming at her. "Sumiko-chan said that if I get good enough she'll teach me how to make awesome exploding tags!"

She blinked and then her eyes widened at the implication. Something snapped within her, "Baka!" and a moment later she was staring startled at her hand.

"Ow," Naruto grumbled, rubbing the top of his head. She could hit really hard for such a shy girl. Blinking at her, the smile returned to his face. "You're really bright and strong! You should become a ninja!"

Before Sakura could say anything in reply, their disapproving teacher strode up and forced them to split up to work with different partners. It was the last time they worked together and Sakura was moved to the other side of the room.

The change in seating seemed to work out pretty good for her, the girl she ended up sitting next to—another bright girl with blonde hair named Ino—stood up for her against those mean girls that always made fun of her forehead and teased her on the playground.

Naruto hoped she would become a ninja like he wanted to be, maybe then they could go on missions with each other and protect people! He knew she'd be strong one day; he had the bruises to prove it!

* * *

><p>Fin<p>

* * *

><p>Note: I'm skewing canon a bit when it comes to the kunoichi classes . . . but I never liked the idea of them for during academy hours anyway. So it's an extra class done outside of the academy. Kunoichi do have to hit standard level of knowledge in that area via the class . . . but it's not considered part of the academy curriculum. To be fair the boys take some classes geared towards "traditional" civilian male jobs as not only a taste of civilian life before becoming genin, but to help on missions if they need to make up a cover story.<p>

This was also rather short . . . but I wanted to give a taste of how things were in civilian school for Naruto before the academy years and Sakura wrote herself in. This is gen and outside of the crushes various characters have in canon, serious relationships won't happen till mid/late _teens_. Also, don't ask for specific pairings . . . that bugs me.

Each section will be over 1k words but will vary in length. Eventually I'll go through and fix the small spelling errors I've noticed.

Thank you everyone who has alerted this story and those that have favorite it. As always thank you for reading, I'm glad you enjoyed it!


	4. At Heart

Title: At Heart

Words: 1,515

Characters: Teuchi, Iruka, Naruto, OCs

Timeline: Naruto age 7, Chunin Iruka (~17)

* * *

><p>When Teuchi was young he made a lot of plans for his life—he dreamed big and did his best to follow through. His parents were supportive, if often absent. They were ninja from a small bloodline-less clan that had long been affiliated with the Nara. When their friends settled in the newly founded Konoha alongside others, his clan did as well.<p>

Their clan had never been large, but due to the first two shinobi wars it had dwindled to just his father and his two sisters. His father chose to become a ninja, as did one of his aunts. Teuchi, as the last heir to his clan to bear their name wanted nothing more than to make his parents proud and become a ninja like his ancestors.

He tried; he really did try his best. Five years spent as a genin during conflict wasn't anything to laugh at. While he hadn't been taught by a jounin-sensei, he had still graduated among the middle of his class and learned the skills necessary to be placed on C-rank missions by the end of his first year of training as a genin.

Things went sour while his team was escorting a supply train to an outpost. There wasn't supposed to be any problems, they were far from any squirmishes and known enemy holdings. The chunin in charge had been green, new to command after the most recent exam.

They hadn't stood a chance.

Two of his genin teammates had lost their lives and both he and the chunin in charge had been in dire straits by the time the last enemy fell. They were lucky to be alive and if it hadn't been for the chunin's bird summons getting word to a nearby Konoha anbu team returning from a mission they wouldn't have been.

He had nearly died. By the time more than a barely qualified field medic had seen to him it had been too late to repair all of the damage. In the end Teuchi walked away sans a kidney and with a permanent limp, retiring from service.

While he figured out what to do with his life, he had spent a bit of time performing administrative duties. With the war, even those that were no longer able to perform the on-call guard portion of duty required by most of the administrative ninja (the only exception being recovering or pregnant ninja in peace time), he'd been asked to fill a void. That was when he met a quiet kunoichi of civilian heritage. She was a chunin and a couple years older than him. She was petite and although plain by some standards he found her dark eyes and light brown hair gorgeous.

Her parents were civilians, simple working people who enjoyed their work and life within the village—even if they didn't always understand the ninja around them. They were the ones who introduced him to food, both working for different restaurants in town. Cooking hadn't ever been something he'd put much thought into, but watching them on the days Megumi dragged him to her house for dinner he couldn't help but be intrigued.

It was them that introduced him to an old ramen chef, a civilian member of the Akimichi clan, who was looking for an apprentice.

From that day on he threw himself fully into a life he never expected with a beautiful woman and a civilian job. It took years, but eventually he earned and learned enough to open his own ramen stand.

People came for the ramen and came for the conversation. Ninja who remembered him, who knew of him stopped by to support his new endeavor. While he was no longer an active (or even listed in the reserve) ninja, he was still a comrade. They talked to him, knowing he understood things that many of the other, true civilian shop owners wouldn't.

Life went on and his wife gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Ayame, but died years later defending the village from the Kyuubi. It had been hard, but he'd done his best, persevered and rebuilt alongside the village. He may not wear a hitai'ate anymore, but in his soul he was still a genin.

The first time Teuchi laid eyes on Naruto the boy was seven years old and his pants were grass stained with holes at the knees, frayed and fresh looking with a tinge of red on the strings. The skin that peaked through the holes was pink and unmarked.

"Hello, Teuchi-san," Iruka, a genin and a regular was standing next to the boy looking a bit worn with a few grass stains as well. He knew the boy was a Kyuubi orphan and was a bit startled at his presence next to Naruto.

The younger boy was leaning against the older's side, looking up at Teuchi warily.

"Iruka-kun, you two look hungry," Teuchi stated as he looked over the blond.

He'd heard a lot about the jinchuriki around town and most of it wasn't good. Teuchi knew better than to jump to conclusions, though, especially when it was information perpetuated by civilians for the most part. Fuinjutsu may not have been something he specialized in, but even in the academy they learned the basics of how sealing worked.

"We are," Iruka grinned and helped Naruto settle up onto a stool.

The younger boy was still watching Teuchi, his bright blue eyes occasionally taking the time to dart around his surroundings. Teuchi was suddenly reminded of another blonde with blue eyes who visited often—most often almost physically dragged into the stand by an exuberant red haired kunoichi who could eat her own body weight in ramen.

"What can I get you?"

"I'll take a beef ramen," Iruka nudged Naruto gently causing the kid to turn and blink at him.

"What?"

"What flavor would you like?"

Naruto frowned and turned to look at the menu, his hands clutched at the counter as he leaned forward. "I dunno. I've never had ramen before."

"Well that's just horrible," Teuchi hummed and turned to grab a few of the smaller bowls usually used for really little children. "How about I make a few different flavors for you to try?" He considered the orders that he was currently working on for other customers. "I'll make you a bit of chicken, miso, and beef to start?"

Iruka cringed, but before he could say anything Teuchi waved him off. "On the house today, Iruka-kun. I've got a new customer to convert." The kid smiled at that, relaxing the tension that had been in his body.

Teuchi wasn't stupid and, no matter the fact that he was a ramen chef, he was still a shinobi. He knew the difference between a kunai and a sealing scroll.

He listened as he worked to their conversation; apparently Iruka had been teaching Naruto some basic pre-genin skills. Chakra control had apparently taken some convincing to work on and as incentive Iruka had decided to display the genin level skill of tree climbing. That was where the grass stains and (formerly) skinned knees had come from, Naruto had decided to skip the basics and follow the teenager up the tree. He'd also failed. But at least the fall had apparently convinced him to start smaller.

As he set the bowl down in front of the blonde, blue eyes squinted up at him. "You're bright . . . are you a ninja?"

Iruka blinked and looked around. No one else had seemed to notice the odd comment.

Teuchi glanced at the little boy and considered before choosing his answer. "I'm a ramen chef heart and soul, but no one ever stops being a shinobi."

Naruto accepted that answer and a pair of chopsticks before peering down into his bowl, considering.

"You better start eating before it gets cold," Iruka said as he pulled his own chopsticks apart.

"Itadakimasu!"

The blond took his first bite of noodles and his eyes widened. Immediately he dug in with a vigor Teuchi rarely saw his customers display unless a shinobi was particularly worn out and near chakra exhaustion.

Teuchi turned with a smile wide on his face as he began to ready the next flavor for the boy. The kid might look a lot like his father what with the blond hair and blue eyes, but his love of ramen was entirely from his mothers. Even though he didn't know for sure, hadn't seen the birth certificate or a blood test, Teuchi knew that Naruto belonged to those two.

He knew it with the same certainty that he knew that little boy was _not_ the reincarnation of a demon.

No matter what the villagers said, no matter how many people stopped eating at Ichiraiku's, Naruto would always be welcome here. Naruto was keeping them safe, had been since the day he was born and his father gave his life to seal away the Kyuubi.

That boy was a shinobi at heart, a comrade, no matter that he lacked training or rank. He'd been a shinobi since birth.

Just like Teuchi.

* * *

><p>Fin<p>

* * *

><p>Note: Teuchi's whole history here (outside of Ayame) is my AU as far as I know. Ramen is a big thing for Naruto and he needs it . . . hence chapter! Naruto may not end up the exact same as canon since he has Iruka and others helping him understand things academically (in this world it was Iruka who taught him to read along with Mayu and school . . . but Iruka's the reason he puts effort into it instead of being completely unable to stay still), but he'll still be rather similar. I'm having him learn fuinjutsu as a tribute to his heritage . . . I've always found it a shame that no one seems to have taught him much of it, if any, in canon. He still isn't that good with concentrating here, but when he has a goal that gets somewhat negated. He really, really wants to make explosive tags . . . and if he has to do calligraphy in order to be taught how to make tags then he's doing so. Naruto won't be a 'genius' or top of his class . . . or super powered. What he will get is a good basis in ninja skills that he was too impatient to develop (and didn't have the support to do so) in canon.<p> 


	5. Planning Ahead

Title: Planning Ahead

Words: 1,666

Characters: Kakashi, Hiruzen Sarutobi (Sandaime Hokage), Tenzo (Yamato), Yugao, Hayate, (others mentioned)

Timeline: A few months before Naruto turns 8, pre-Uchiha massacre.

Pairings: Yugao/Hayate mentioned

* * *

><p>There wasn't much that could be said about Kakashi's most recent mission. It had been a success, yes, but in the end it hadn't really mattered. The client had flat out <em>lied<em> about a lot of the so-called facts they'd been given, and somehow Konoha's intelligence network hadn't figured it out in time. His team survived, however, so it hadn't gone completely fubar—even if killing their target successfully was going to lead to a lot more headaches and missions in the long run.

Tenzo glanced his way as the Hokage dismissed the majority of the team following the debriefing. Kakashi responded with a hand sign indicating he'd meet up at the usual place later. While he didn't have a lot of friends, the mokuton user had grown on him while he trained under him. They both had issues—vastly different ones considering Kakashi hadn't been experimented on by Orochimaru as an child—but they both had secrets, some of which overlapped.

Not long after joining ANBU, Tenzo had been inserted into Naruto's protection unit as a substitute. In part it was to provide more off days for the elder ANBU who had already stayed in the organization years past their contracts, but it was also to get Naruto used to Tenzo. There were very few people with the potential to aid in the suppression of a biju and Tenzo was one of only a few that the Sandaime and Jiraiya felt could be trusted. The Uchiha were oddly not among them. Not even the prodigy Itatchi, who was being considered for promotion to ANBU captain, had been pushed into the hodge podge team that made up the jinchuriki's guard.

When the rest of Kakashi's team was gone, the Hokage sighed. "Remove your mask please, Kakashi-kun."

He did so, suppressing the wince at the honorific. No matter his own status as ANBU captain and elite jounin, Kakashi always felt like a little kid around the Hokage. Granted he was just in his early twenties. "Hokage-sama?" he questioned, removing the Inu mask from his face.

Hiruzen leaned back in his chair and surveyed the younger man. Kakashi had been in ANBU since his former teacher made Hokage. When the Kyuubi had attacked Kakashi had still been in training, thus not accepted as a full ANBU. He had risen fast, faster than most originally thought he would through the ranks following the attack. The boy had lost a lot those few years, his team and surrogate family were all gone, lost to war and the dangers of the shinobi lifestyle. If he had to guess, Kakashi had originally joined ANBU in order to, eventually, join his sensei's guard detail. In the end he'd ended up protecting Naruto from time to time instead.

"Your ANBU contract will be up in four months," Hiruzen stated without preamble. "I need to know if you will be signing up for a third time or if you will be returning to regular jounin duties."

Kakashi blinked and frowned a little under his mask. Time had gotten away from him, he hadn't really thought about his contract. He'd signed the first upon finishing his training not long after the attack, opting for the four year terms that most avoided. The second he'd signed not long after first joining Naruto's guard as seeing the rambunctious blond for a while each month eased the pain from the loss of his surrogate family. It was also the only way he'd been able to spend time with the child.

"I plan to—"

"Naruto will be joining the academy for the spring semester, Kakashi," Hiruzen interrupted him. "He' ll be eight and considering the tutoring he's received from Umino Iruka and a few others over the years, it is unlikely that he'll have difficulty graduating on time . . . perhaps even earlier."

Oh._ Oh._ If Kakashi chose to renew his contract there was a distinct possibility he'd miss the chance to actually train Naruto, something he'd once—only sort of joking—promised Minato-sensei and Kushina he would do. He'd even let himself imagine it a few times while on guard duty as he watched the boy who was so much like his mother in personality and father in coloring run around.

"If I don't renew, won't I be put forward as a possible jounin sensei every six months?" Kakashi asked carefully.

Hiruzen quirked a smile and nodded, raising his pipe to his lips and lighting it. "Yes. You were taught by one of our greatest and have yet to take a team after being a jounin for nearly a decade. Between your age and skill level you are a prime candidate to be a jounin-sensei."

Kakashi winced, shifting his weight slightly. There really wasn't anything he could say or do to refute that fact that also wouldn't count against him to be eventually given Naruto's team.

"However . . . you are aware how teams are chosen and developed?"

"Yes . . . somewhat."

"Most of the teams that will be kept by jounin sensei's are already chosen prior to the secondary genin exams. It sounds harsh, but when twelve teams graduate only four will remain with the jounin sensei they are assigned."

Kakashi nodded, that was something he knew.

"Those teams are usually developed with certain paths in mind. Their senseis are chosen to not only aide in developing those, but also to compliment them. In Naruto's year there is an Inuzuka, an Aburame, and a main house Hyuuga. If graduation was tomorrow they would be paired together, likely with an Uchiha or genjutsu specialist in order to form a specialized tracking team, barring extremely clashing personalities. Your own team was a combat specialist team . . . much like your Minato's and my students."

Kakashi knew most of this. It was, seemingly quite unfair, as many teams that gained jounin sensei's included students with specialized abilities—most of the time this meant that they were clan heavy. There were notable exceptions, especially in later years as some of the clans dwindled and others grew. The non-clan shinobi population was also growing and families were passing—or had been prior to the Kyuubi attack—more and more techniques and fighting styles onto the younger generation.

"You want me to test the students that will study with the chunin," Kakashi guessed after a long moment. Those that ended up with chunin sensei studied more general fields until their specialization was found and developed or until a complimentary team could be organized. It was rather difficult to form teams out of twelve year olds that had a cohesive purpose, considering most children didn't spend much time outside of the academy practicing. The program for genins taught by chunins

"Yes," Hiruzen nodded, "You will also act as a temporary sensei from time to time for C rank missions . . . when you are not assigned higher ranking missions, of course."

He groaned inwardly, but he knew there was nothing he could do _but_ accept. He wanted to teach Naruto, in some ways he needed to. If things had gone differently Kakashi would have basically been the boy's older brother. Right now, though, he was just a faceless guard. Considering Naruto's sensor abilities, Kakashi was very careful to avoid him when off duty.

Resolving himself, Kakashi straightened. "I will not be renewing my ANBU contract when it runs out in four months."

"As you wish." Hiruzen grew serious again. "I will be assigning Uchiha Itatchi to your squad starting in two days. You will be training him to take over your duties as ANBU captain, with the exception of your extra guard duty." Plucking two scrolls off his desk, he handed them to Kakashi. "You'll be taking Raion's place tomorrow . . . you have my permission to speak with your charge. It would be good for you to explain your prolonged absence from his awareness." He smiled again, "You'll also be on duty on the tenth, as usual."

"Understood." Kakashi bowed then, and replaced his mask as the Hokage dismissed him.

* * *

><p>Kakashi found Tenzo and a few of their collegues—mostly ANBU—at their usual bar. There were a few places popular among the jounin and ANBU that allowed for them to be a tad less discrete about their position among the black ops. As long as masks and code names weren't mentioned it was all good, usually. Shinobi also knew when to stop asking questions and when to silence comrades that got a little too drunk.<p>

Not one for doing a lot of talking, Kakashi sipped and spun his drink a little, staring idly at its surface as he listened to a jounin a table over tell a story about one of his genin teams recent D ranks. The conversation at his table was going in one ear and out the other until Tenzo tapped his shoulder.

He raised an eyebrow and set his glass flat on the table.

"What's up with you, Kakashi?" Yugao, a sub-captain asked. Kakashi had somehow missed her and Hayate showing up. Her boyfriend, a former ANBU who had contracted an illness (or poison) during a mission outside of Hi no Kuni that had scarred his lungs, had been discharged to the jounin ranks. He was still more than welcome among their circle, though.

Kakashi took a long moment before answering with a smile, his eye drifting shut, "I think I'll become a jounin sensei."

To say the bar, let alone his own table, was shocked would have been an understatement.

It also didn't surprise him that the next time Gai found him, his self-proclaimed eternal rival went into a rant on how he would take up Kakashi's "challenge" and become the best jounin-sensei he could as well. Kakashi wasn't really paying attention to what Gai would do if he failed . . . but he thought he caught something about water walking on his hands and Kirigakure in there somewhere.

* * *

><p>Fin.<p>

* * *

><p>Note: Another shorty, but the next one will be a bit longer I think . . . I was going to include Naruto's conversation with Kakashi in this one, but sometimes you find a perfect ending and I thought this worked. Going over the training of genins was repetitive from future chapters, sorry, but I needed to flesh out the fact that Kakashi didn't fail those teams in order to get Naruto on his team . . . he was asked to in order to have him on his team. In other words the Hokage is going to make Kakashi interact some with kids to get at least a bit used to those that aren't Naruto.<p>

I'm also flubbing the timeline here. In this AU the academy having two semesters with two graduating classes (or more some years . . . I figure starting with Narutos the following years may be slim on graduates and then have a boom four yearsish from then due to the attack) a year. The Uchiha massacre will take place the spring that Naruto starts at the academy in this AU and Sasuke will join his class in the fall after missing much of the spring semester having originally started in the fall before but missing most of the spring in recovery. This is off a bit, but then this is an AU.

The example given to Kakashi of team 8 is a hypothetical 'if the students were eligible to graduate now and were sorted into teams now.' It always bothered me in canon how few ninja it appeared graduated to protect not only Konoha but Fire country as a whole each year . . . they weren't training to replace and then some their numbers (ie couple needs to have two children or more to maintain a populations numbers.

Thanks again for reviewing/alerting! :3 The reviews were an especially nice treat!


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